MONTREAL - Pierre Bouvier knows how much it can help when someone reaches out in a time of need.
The lead singer for mega-hit rockers Simple Plan recalled Thursday how his brother Jay fought a 2 1/2-year battle with cancer before going into remission.
"It's difficult for a family to go through those things. I would know," Bouvier said in an interview with The Canadian Press after the Montreal band announced the first donations from its foundation to help youth in need.
Among those targeted for help by the Simple Plan Foundation are organizations that aid families and youth dealing with illness or handicaps.
"It's really difficult and a lot of times it helps to have someone that can help you get through it," Bouvier said. "When it happens to you, it's kind of, 'How could this happen to me? What the hell am I going to do about it?'
"When you have people that are there to support you, it's going to make it a little bit easier."
The Simple Plan Foundation was started in 2005 when the band was looking for a way to make a difference in the community.
"For us, it's a way to give back," Bouvier said.
It aims to help young people facing problems such as substance abuse and depression, illness and the effects of war. It also promotes music education as a way of finding a passion and a purpose in life.
Bouvier noted that a lot of institutions are cutting their music programs these days, deeming them unimportant.
"For me, it is one of the most important ones," he said.
"When I was in school, the music program is what kept me in line and it's what kept me inspired."
The foundation will distribute $100,000 this summer to 17 organizations chosen from about 200 applicants for funding. The grants will range from between $3,000 and $10,000.
Recipients include War Child Canada, Kids Help Phone, Children's Wish Foundation and Portage, a Quebec group involved in substance-abuse rehabilitation.
Bouvier, 29, says he isn't sure if celebrities have an obligation to put their fame to charitable uses but figures it can't hurt.
"If somewhere inside you, you feel the need to help out, why not?" he said. "It's important to inspire people and make other people realize that it's not that difficult. Everyone can make a difference."
Muriel Jaouich, director of the Quebec west division of the Children's Wish Foundation, praised the band's efforts.
"I think it's fantastic," she said. "I think it's really very impressive that young people like this have taken this initiative, and I think it's going to be a great example for young people out there in Canada."
Jaouich said the band is active with her organization and has granted some wishes for sick kids. That usually takes the form of bringing them and their family to a concert and spending some quality time with them afterward.
"It's memorable moments for the children."
The group also announced the foundation's 2008-2009 fundraising drive, which will be headed by L. Jacques Menard, president of BMO Financial Group Quebec.
"I was pleased to see this group of young people who've experienced global success get involved with the youth who are less fortunate," Menard said.
"I wanted to collaborate with them because I truly believe that it is up to the older generations to support those who will soon take their place. They deserve more than what we are preparing to leave them."
The first fundraising event - a brunch followed by an auction and an acoustic concert - will take place in Montreal on Aug. 17.
Simple Plan, which released its latest album in February, is in the midst of a worldwide tour, which will begin its Canadian leg in August in the Atlantic provinces.
Bouvier doesn't see the band heading back to the studio to work on another album for a while yet.
"We've been blessed with success internationally so it takes us a long time to tour," he said, noting there are plenty of European, U.S. and southeast Asian dates ahead. "We have a lot more to do before we get back in the studio."
News from �The Canadian Press, 2008
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